“He offered me Jimi's guitar and then disappeared!”: How Lenny Kravitz almost got his hands on Hendrix's Woodstock Strat

When Lenny Kravitz first became a star in 1990 with his debut album Let Love Rule, he revealed how Jimi Hendrix’s former drummer Buddy Miles promised to give him the famous guitar Hendrix played at Woodstock.

It was an offer that seemed too good to be true – and unfortunately for Lenny, that’s how it happened.

As Lenny recalled, Miles saw him play the Hendrix classic If 6 Was 9 and was so impressed that he said Lenny could have what was arguably Jimi’s most iconic guitar – the white 1968 Fender Stratocaster he played at the Festival from Woodstock. on August 18, 1969.

Jimi Hendrix – Purple Haze – Live Woodstock – 4K Remaster – (Color Corrected) – (UHD) – YouTube
Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze - Live Woodstock - 4K Remaster - (Color Corrected) - (UHD) - YouTube

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In an interview with Sounds in May 1990, Lenny said: “He (Miles) offered me the guitar in front of 30 people, my band, crew, the bus driver. He said, ‘I’d really love for you to have this.’ He came to my show in Chicago, got on stage and raised my arm – that was like he approved of me.

“He was saying I was the best thing since Jimi or something. We were going out and having a great time and he had no reason to try to impress anyone.

“He said, ‘It’s in storage, I’m going to get it.’ And the son of a bitch disappeared! It’s kinda fucked up. He didn’t need to say it, no one asked him to, he didn’t need to brag.

“You just don’t tell a kid like me, who idolizes Jimi Hendrix, that you’re going to give him his guitar and then you don’t.

“I didn’t miss anything, but it’s a big tease, man. That really bothered me.”

Lenny thought he wouldn’t be afraid to play that guitar. “Hell no!” he said. “I would throw the shit out of it! I wouldn’t say, ‘Oh my God, I can’t touch that.’ I would play that son of a bitch!

He also revealed that he wanted Jimmy Page to perform a solo on the song Fields Of Joy – but ended up asking Slash to play it.

Fields of Joy (2012 Remaster) – YouTube

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“Slash approached me after one of my shows and we talked,” he recalled. “We actually went to high school together, but we didn’t know each other, we just crossed paths. He said, ‘I really want to play on your record.’ And I said, ‘I’ll get your number and call you.’ And he said, ‘Call me, don’t fool me.’

“It was a solo that, before I met him, I wanted Jimmy Page to play. And I couldn’t catch him, so I thought Slash would be the next best cat. And he played hard at it. Unbelievable! It’s the best I’ve ever heard him play.”

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